Monthly Newsletter

Mount Baker Baptist Association Newsletter

March, 2019

From DOM John Hobson

Spring is coming. After the February we just faced it may be hard for you to believe that promise.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. The difficult issues of life we face often snowball on us. Testing comes when we put God first. Sometimes it seems like it is just one storm after another piling more and more snow on top of us. We feel like we are sliding on the ice or stuck in the rut after the latest storm.

We need to remember we are never alone during these struggles. God is with us! He promises to never leave us or forsake us. We are to call on Him! Philippians 4:4 tells us “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!” We can rejoice as we go through these trials that we are not alone.

We also have our church family to support us during these difficult times. We need to inform them of our needs. This allows them to bless us as they assist us through this difficulty. They can do that by praying for us and providing for us and our family. Then we bless them by sharing our appreciation for their help. We share with them how God is bringing us through this hardship, giving God the glory.

Remember, winter is only for a season. The days of refreshing are coming. Spring is just around the corner. Praise God!

NOTE:In 2019 two pastors in our association are involved in mission efforts internationally to teach indigenous pastors to better minister to their people. Pastor Lemuel Villano and members of Oak Harbor Southern Baptist Church were in the Philippines in January and February.

Pastor Troy VanHorn, Restoration Church, Camano, left March 8th for Nepal where he will be teaching for two weeks.

We have invited them to share their ministry with us. Please be in prayer, thanking God for the ministry of OHSBC in the Philippines and for Troy VanHorn and World Hope Partner Ministries as they minister in Nepal. Read their reports below.

Oak Harbor SBC Pastors Conferences in the Philippines

2017 through 2019 were the most faith-stimulating years in the Oak Harbor Southern Baptist ministry. Two years ago,

the Holy Spirit conceived an idea and planted it in the heart of the church that in this modern day's ministry the pastors are the most left out, unattended and less appreciated in the context of Kingdom building. This condition is genuinely in existence especially among many pastors in the third world countries.

Make no mistake, the focus of many ministerial entities toward reaching the lost in the third world countries is so imperative that every church should never hesitate supporting it. Nevertheless, equally essential in the building of God's kingdom is the health of those new and growing believers in faith.

These colossal tasks are basically placed upon the shoulders of pastors and lay leaders with often limited educational training and resources.

Responding to this challenge, in January and February 2019, the Lord brought a team from the OHSBC to Cebu City in the Visayas, Koronadal City in Mindanao, and Mabalacat City in Luzon to conduct two days and one-night pastors’ conference.

The theme of the conference was Building Kingdom Builders. As a church, our prayers were that the Lord will deliver tremendous blessings and encouragements to the pastors in the area. We brought to them lectures on Hermeneutics' by Dr. Jonathan Exiomo, Expository Preaching, and Pastoral Care by Lemuel Villano, Th.D. The conference was free for all pastors including a genuine leather ESV study Bible.

With an enthusiastic partnership of local convention and association, the conference was successfully completed. Two hundred forty pastors were blessed and encouraged, knowing that they are not alone in Building the Kingdom of God. The Lord blessed us with His protection from all danger and delivered us safely back home. All the glory belongs to God!!!

--Lemuel Villano, Th.D.

Troy VanHorn’s Ministry in Nepal

Prayer Matters! Prayers appreciated! Please pray for the leaders in this valley! Jeremy and I will be going to teach them and others in two different locations in Nepal. Jeremy will be teaching Expository Preaching and I will be teaching Ecclesiology, as we work through Paul's epistle to Titus. These men and women desire theological training to lead their local churches well. They need your prayers and they need training. Your support is getting it to them through World Hope Ministries International! Please pray for our small team as we travel around Nepal to teach, encourage, and pray. Please pray for our families and churches in our absence!Prayers answered! Praise God for his continued provision. We are now in the fifth year, yes, fifth year as World Hope Partner Missionaries. When we started out on this, we wondered how God would provide and he has continually done so in a way that keeps us prayerfully attentive. Sometimes, we get concerned that there won't be enough to do the work. But God always has provided. It has been confirming and affirming for us to keep on! This year has been no different. And God has shown us how he is capable in different ways each time! For all of you who support us financially-God has used you to encourage us and strengthen our faith. THANK YOU!Prayer Always! God is our source for salvation, life, and ministry! Our prayers are prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving to him for you, for the work of serving these pastors and leaders, for they are faithfully serving in difficult and sometimes dangerous settings. We know he is faithful and will never leave us. So we keep praying to express our worship, our dependence, our love, and his glory!

--Troy VanHorn

If your church is involved in a ministry in your community, the U.S. or internationally, please send us information so we can all share in what is being done around the world.